[ampere]

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

Hi Ampere,

From Odanchatram you can go to Sathy bypassing Gobi via Kurumanthur (link shown below). It is around 7 KM shorter. Any reason to avoid this road?
https://goo.gl/maps/fQZsJ

Frankly no idea @nfs. Might be worth a try during day time. Because this option would bypass Gobi. The one I mentioned is a time and tested option.

The important thing is you need to track the route correctly esp. for these small roads.

[nfsfreak]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

The route mentioned by Ampere (kangeyam, dharapuram etc) is a proven route with very good 2 lane roads. Traffic is also less on these roads comparitively.

Originally Posted by ampere

The important thing is you need to track the route correctly esp. for these small roads.

Thanks Suresh & Ampere. It makes sense to go via the tested road though bit longer. Even I prefer to, normally

Starting to Sabarimala today by 1 PM with KA registered car. Hopefully, there wont be any issues due to verdict.
If I have time and inclination to try when crossing that stretch while return, I will check the mentioned route and update here.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

Thanks Suresh & Ampere. It makes sense to go via the tested road though bit longer. Even I prefer to, normally

Starting to Sabarimala today by 1 PM with KA registered car. Hopefully, there wont be any issues due to verdict.
If I have time and inclination to try when crossing that stretch while return, I will check the mentioned route and update here.

Verdict is out. Interim bail granted to AMMA. You can travel to sabarimala safely.

Happy journey and have a nice darshan of Lord Ayyappan.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by kala

My experience was quite the opposite when I travelled a couple of times along that route in the past 1 to 1.5 months. The heavy and mad traffic between Ramanattukara and Chelari (which reminds you of the Bangalore-Mysore SH17 traffic on weekends) virtually forced me to deviate to the Chamravattom route, and I found that route (including the passage through the mid-size towns of Parappanangadi, Tanur and Tirur) to be very smooth - perhaps because it was early in the morning (Around 6:30-7AM). Not sure how bad it becomes later in the day.

Agree. As I pass Ramanatukkara, I always think, will stick to the highway. Then the craze traffic till chelari forces me towards the parappanandadi route. .Off Peak hours (Early morning, Late nights) it is a no brainer. The Tirur route is much better. No doubt about it. But during the afternoons and evenings it has started to become very crowded. During my last trip to Kerala, did the Calicut Tirur Stretch, 4-5 times, First couple of times used the Parappanangadi route, but then both times got stuck at several places due to traffic. So then switched to the highway.

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

I do not want to take Nilambur route as it passes via Tamil Nadu. It is the shortest route (Shorter even than the Salem route by 40 KMs).

I think Pramod's route problem is solved now and can stick to the NH7-NH47

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Decide final route, depending on situation then.

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Nothing untoward will happen as the fear of president's rule being imposed in TN will be there amongst the party workers. I would still suggest stick to TN route. Anyways wait and watch and then take a call on your destination routes.

Originally Posted by arjithin

I suggest start early from Bangalore and try to cross pollachi before 9 am( if situation is not that bad).

Originally Posted by ampere

+1 to what Arijit said. If you start by 3AM, you would be past Pollachi by 9.

Originally Posted by kala

Make it +2 . The route via Calicut will take you at least 50% more of travel time (Around 13 hours), so it may very well be worth it risking a drive through TN in the very early hours. In case you want to avoid major towns like Salem and reduce the travel time through TN, you could even take the NH209/Karumathampatti-Pollachi route - The stretch through TN - i.e. Dhimbham to Pollachi shouldn't take you more than 3 hours.

Originally Posted by bejoy

I think Pramod's route problem is solved now and can stick to the NH7-NH47

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will stick to NH 7 - NH 47 route. Will start at 4:30 AM. Cannot start before that.

Will be taking the Sarjapur - Bagalur route. Any updates on the work on Sarjapur bypass?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Will be taking the Sarjapur - Bagalur route. Any updates on the work on Sarjapur bypass?

At 4:30, do you really need Bagalur? It should be easy on the Hosur road. Isn't it?

[ambivalent_98]

Gentlemen of experience...I am planning to travel from Bangalore to Kochi and back for the holidays. I think the route that would be fastest and safest with best tarmacs would be Bangalore - Salem - Coimbatore-Palakad-Thrissur.
However since I am travelled upto Salem I know the tarmac would be good (except the Hosur stretch where work seems to just go on and on and on). I am not too sure about the road beyond Coimbatore bypass. All tips / suggestions are eagerly awaited.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

Gentlemen of experience...I am planning to travel from Bangalore to Kochi and back for the holidays. I think the route that would be fastest and safest with best tarmacs would be Bangalore - Salem - Coimbatore-Palakad-Thrissur.
However since I am travelled upto Salem I know the tarmac would be good (except the Hosur stretch where work seems to just go on and on and on). I am not too sure about the road beyond Coimbatore bypass. All tips / suggestions are eagerly awaited.

The Walayar stretch is not in good shape. I would recommend this route

Via Hosur, Krishnagiri, Salem, Avinashi, Palladam, Pollachi, Kollengode, Vadakkencherry and Mannuthy.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

Gentlemen of experience...I am planning to travel from Bangalore to Kochi and back for the holidays. I think the route that would be fastest and safest with best tarmacs would be Bangalore - Salem - Coimbatore-Palakad-Thrissur.
However since I am travelled upto Salem I know the tarmac would be good (except the Hosur stretch where work seems to just go on and on and on). I am not too sure about the road beyond Coimbatore bypass. All tips / suggestions are eagerly awaited.

Avoid Hosur, if possible. Cracker shopping and traffic will be at its best during this week between Attibelle and Hosur.

Take Attibelle-TVS Factory-Rayakottai-Palacode-Dharmapuri-Salem.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

Gentlemen of experience...I am planning to travel from Bangalore to Kochi and back for the holidays. I think the route that would be fastest and safest with best tarmacs would be Bangalore - Salem - Coimbatore-Palakad-Thrissur.
However since I am travelled upto Salem I know the tarmac would be good (except the Hosur stretch where work seems to just go on and on and on). I am not too sure about the road beyond Coimbatore bypass. All tips / suggestions are eagerly awaited.

Please read the last 3-4 pages of this thread, all your queries will be answered.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

Gentlemen of experience...I am planning to travel from Bangalore to Kochi and back for the holidays. I think the route that would be fastest and safest with best tarmacs would be Bangalore - Salem - Coimbatore-Palakad-Thrissur.

Bangalore-Attibelle-TVS Factory-Rayakottai-Palacode bypass-Dharmapuri-Toppur-Salem-Avinashi bypass-Palladam-Pollachi-Vadakkancherry-Mannuthy-Kochi.

Avoid Attibelle-Hosur. It may take two hours to cross this stretch due to Diwali cracker shopping. It won't be a problem if you are traveling during night.

Attibelle-TVS Factory - very few bad stretches, but better than loosing two hours to cross Hosur.

TVS Factory-Rayakottai - Good
Rayakottai-NH7 (Dharmapuri) - Good except for few rough stretches
Avinashi-Palladam-Pollachi-Vadakkancherry - Good surface

NH47 beyond L&T exit is very rough but there are no huge potholes. Not ideal for smooth drive.

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by ampere

At 4:30, do you really need Bagalur? It should be easy on the Hosur road. Isn't it?

The Bagalur route is 13 KMs shorter than the route via Silk board. Also, I can avoid 2 tolls and the traffic jam at the Hosur commercial checkpost.

Took the Sarjapur route yesterday. The bypass is still closed but this was not an issue in the morning. There is a sign board before entering Sarjapur town that the road ahead is closed and to take a deviation to another road towards the left. I ignored this and went via the narrow road through the town.

Originally Posted by ambivalent_98

Gentlemen of experience...I am planning to travel from Bangalore to Kochi and back for the holidays. I think the route that would be fastest and safest with best tarmacs would be Bangalore - Salem - Coimbatore-Palakad-Thrissur.
However since I am travelled upto Salem I know the tarmac would be good (except the Hosur stretch where work seems to just go on and on and on). I am not too sure about the road beyond Coimbatore bypass. All tips / suggestions are eagerly awaited.

I think the NH 7 - NH 47 route via Coimbatore - Palakkad is the fastest. I drove from Bangalore to Vaikom via this route yesterday and could do the distance in 9.5 hours with breaks of around 40 mins.

Madukkarai -Walayar was being patched up. There are no deep potholes. This stretch is better than how it was 2 months before.

The road work between Walayar and Vadakkencherry can slow you down.

Small potholes that surfaced in the newly laid Vadakkencherry - Mannuthy are all fixed nicely. This stretch is in good condition now.

In my opinion the Pollachi route will make the travel time more by 30 mins as it is longer and you have to cross Pollachi town in between.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Bangalore-Attibelle-TVS Factory-Rayakottai-Palacode bypass-Dharmapuri-Toppur-Salem-Avinashi bypass-Palladam-Pollachi-Vadakkancherry-Mannuthy-Kochi.
...
NH47 beyond L&T exit is very rough but there are no huge potholes. Not ideal for smooth drive.

Originally Posted by pramodpk

...I think the NH 7 - NH 47 route via Coimbatore - Palakkad is the fastest. ...

Madukkarai -Walayar was being patched up. There are no deep potholes. This stretch is better than how it was 2 months before.

The road work between Walayar and Vadakkencherry can slow you down.

In my opinion the Pollachi route will make the travel time more by 30 mins as it is longer and you have to cross Pollachi town in between.

I second pramodpk. Did this route last weekend. And both ways, I drove at peak traffic hours. Took me about a little over an hour from Chandranagar to Madukkarai (L&T bypass toll gate).

Diversions between Walayar and Vadakkenchery are better marked, and many stretches are open for traffic on both sides of the median. The road remains rough between Walayar and Madukkarai, but not many craters as before - there's one near the Chavadi checkpost. There were some new 'Men at work' boards erected at a few places.

[nfsfreak]

Back from my Sabarimala trip. Road updates as follows (pardon my long post).

Onward:
Did usual Bangalore-Salem-Dindigul-Theni-Cumbum-Kumily-Pamba https://goo.gl/maps/DqZMK

Bangalore-Dindigul (turn towards Batlagundu). Good roads, 4 lane all the way. No new updates.

Dindiul-Kumily :
The outer roads are in very good condition but in towns, it is very bad.
The roads inside each town you cross (Periyakulam, Theni, Chinnamannur, Cumbum) is broken with some very nasty potholes that can even damage Bus/lorry suspension.
Even buses/lorries were having tough time navigating them. So, when you cross a town, keep your speed very low and be very careful when navigating those moon sized craters. Some are very deep and was filled with rain water which makes very difficult to judge the size & depth.

We were not able to manage good average and were slowed down considerably due to this.

Kumily-Pamba : Very good roads. no problem. Each and every major road junction is marked for Sabarimala.


Return:
Pamba-Batlagundu-Sembatti-Oddanchatram-vellakoil-Kangeyam-Sathy-Anthiyur-Mecheri-Pennagaram-Rayakottai-TVS Factory-Attibele-Bangalore

Original plan for return is avoid all the tolls while return and try some alternate 2 lane routes for fun.

So, we planned to take Sathy-Kanakapura-Bangalore road.
When we reached Sathy we heard the road is blocked @ thimbam ghats due to a huge lorry that got stuck there. A very huge traffic pileup (yesterday).
We waited for 1 hour and seeing no progress or updates, we planned to reroute and take Mecheri-Pennagaram road to Bangalore.

Finally, reached Bangalore in about 16 hours (including the time lost in Sathy, additional distance traveled, breaks etc) without paying any tolls

Now the updates.

Pamba-Sembatti : Same as my onward journey.

Sembatti-Oddanchatram-Aranmanai Valasu : Good 2 lane roads. Few rough sections nothing major.

Aranmanai Valasu-Mulanur-Vellakoil : great 2 lane roads throughout, Some sections freshly laid.

Vellakoil-Kangeyam-Padiyur-Kolapur-Sathy : good 2 lane roads. No problem and this bypasses Gobichettipalayam.

Sathy-Anthiyur-Mettur-Mecheri : good 2 lane roads. Some random rough sections but nothing major.

Mecheri-Pennagaram: good 2 lane roads all the way and it was fun driving in late nights.

Pennagaram-Palacode-Rayakottai-TVS Factory-Attibele : Good 2 lane roads with some random rough sections.

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

One is not sure about the road conditons as highlighted by you.

Originally Posted by ampere

Frankly no idea @nfs. Might be worth a try during day time.

https://goo.gl/maps/6uAkO : Did this stretch and the roads are found to be good. It bypasses Gobichettipalayam and saves around 8-9 kms.

Thanks all for the help & updates for planning my trip well .